


Commitment Can Really Sneak Up On Some People

by xikra1648



Series: Oneshots & Multi-Shots From Longer Fics I MIGHT Write [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, Casual Sex, Civil War had a happy ending, Comedy, Commitment-phobes, Don't know if I'll make it a whole thing, Due to biological relation to existing character, Especially since I might be adding a chapter two, F/M, Family, I don't know..., Just had to get it out so I could focus on other stuff, No Endgame, No Infinity War, No Smut, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Rea has pre-set physical characteristics, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Sisters, Snippet of a larger idea, The rating felt like it fit more than Teen, There's nothing really explicit, but like..., commitment issues, i don't know yet, most characters only mentioned, or more, rating to be safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:02:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22685920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xikra1648/pseuds/xikra1648
Summary: For professional assassins, commitment was never easy, even for those who had chosen that career.  There were the trust issues, the complicated lifestyles, the lying, and the inevitable revelation of the truth never went well.  That wasn't even considering the people that started out with commitment issues, for whatever reason.That was why it was so difficult for Steve to know to commitment-phobes had unwittingly slipped into a commitment and still be sworn to secrecy about it.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader, Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers
Series: Oneshots & Multi-Shots From Longer Fics I MIGHT Write [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1383646
Kudos: 12





	Commitment Can Really Sneak Up On Some People

**Author's Note:**

> Woohoo! I'm back at Marvel and I 100% blame the impending appearance of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier show!!
> 
> I've got about a million ideas for Buckaroo, various one-shots and multi-shots as well as longer projects. Here is the first of many.

# Commitment Can Really Sneak Up On Some People

Everyone makes sacrifices. Most women commonly end up with the decision to either sacrifice their social lives to focus on their career, or to keep their social life at the cost of not achieving as much with their career as they possibly could. Both you and your sister were faced with that decision, and you’d both made different calls. Sharon still had a very impressive resume, just making it to S.H.I.E.L.D Special Forces was a remarkable feat for _any_ gender, but she still had a life outside the job. You had made a different call, wrapping your entire life into S.H.I.E.L.D and the job, your S.H.I.E.L.D file becoming impossible to read as three-quarters of the thing was redacted for Fury and Maria’s eyes _only_. Sharon had friends, a life, and still an impressive career as an Avengers agent after S.H.I.E.L.D fell. You were an Avenger, but that was…basically it.

Your entire identity was wrapped up in being _Blackbird._ You joined the rest of the Avengers when they moved into the tower, you’d been at the top of the list of candidates back when it was still just the _Avengers Initiative_ , kept fighting, digging Hydra out of their holes before kicking them down. All the while, more and more members joined the ranks, most of them flooding in right after that _Ultron_ disaster – something that further complicated rebuilding the tower’s communal space after Ultron’s initial attack. Wanda needed training starting at the very basics, Sam was good but still had some rough edges that needed working on, Rhodey’s War Machine suit was being entirely retrofitted once it was safely under the care of Tony Stark instead of the US Armed Forces, Vision was just getting used to being _alive_ , and then there were the new members that didn’t even live in the tower. Scott’s daughter was in California, and everyone on the team agreed that’s where he needed to be, while T’Challa was _literally_ the king of Wakanda and _obviously_ needed to be there, and there was no way _anyone_ was letting Parker move in before he was at _least_ 21\. Then, came the latest addition – admittedly two years before this take takes place.

James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes

_The Winter Soldier_

He’d been woken up from cryo more and more often in the 21st Century, and your unique position in S.H.I.E.L.D as Fury’s _break glass in case of emergency_ option meant you were the one facing off with the ex-assassin more often than not. It was part of the balancing act, after years of fiddling around with bureaucracy directly impeding attempts to save the world your aunt – former S.H.I.E.L.D Director Carter – had argued for _one_ agent the director could call into the field without notifying the council. An argument she won, as the politicians she argued with figured a single agent couldn’t do all that much and – at most – they’d be a stop-gap while the Director and Secretary debated with the World Council.

Politicians tended to be unaware that _one_ good agent was just as good as an army.

With the UN meeting in their New York city headquarters for their annual general assembly, just about Avenger was in the tower until it was over. While the Sokovian Accords were revoked after Secretary Ross’ resume as a general became public knowledge – a series of events that _started_ with slipping Dr. Banner drugs that _primed_ him for transformation via gamma radiation, moved on to signing off for what little was left of Dr. Erskine’s formula in a procedure that not only incorrectly applied the serum but gave it to a soldier _on loan_ from England that still worked the field in his 40’s because his psych profile concerned too many people on top of being repeatedly refused a position in S.H.I.E.L.D for the exact same reason, included a military operation on a college campus in _Virginia,_ and ended with the aforementioned soldier becoming S.H.I.E.L.D referred to as _the Abomination_ and nearly flattening Harlem if Banner hadn’t stepped in as the Hulk. Events that placed Ross’ daughter squarely in the middle of danger, where she was repeatedly protected from Ross and his soldiers from the very man the (then) general wanted to put on a glorified _leash_. Assuming Banner and/or Hulk survived the _experiments_ they’d be put through.

Nobody was all that keen on listening to Ross’ _professional opinion_ after that cat was _mysteriously_ let out of the bag to roam the internet.

…Okay, you did it, but to be _fair_ that military operation was only a few _miles_ from your childhood home, and those vials of Dr. Erskine’s serum he’d stolen were only within his reach because they’d just been cleared for research into a _literal_ cure for cancer.

Still, even without the Sokovian Accords, the UN wanted to have some sort of oversight over the Avengers, even if it meant maintaining the visage of working together while that was still hashed out. Besides, after Zemo framed Barnes for that bombing in Vienna the UN was – admittedly rightfully – scared. The man had not only attacked the UN, but later infiltrated the CIA only days later. It was – to put things bluntly – a _disaster._ Security needed to be tightened, and for the time being that meant having the majority of Avengers on standby whenever the UN was meeting in their New York City headquarters – save for an alien invasion or something else world ending.

You didn’t want to think about what would have happened if you hadn’t ignored Steve and told Tony what happened to his parents _years_ before that whole mess began.

So, while you still had a daily workout, you were taking a bit of a lazy day in terms of training. It was Nat’s turn to train Wanda, Steve was helping Sam work out those rough edges with Bucky’s help, Rhodey was out with Tony test driving the new repulsors in the War Machine suit, Thor was still off-world, and you’d all come to the conclusion that when Banner wanted to be found he’d be found. A _lazy day_ , for you, as you slipped into a plain black pair of workout leggings and a sea-green workout bra, tying your long blonde hair into a bun while making your way to the gym, and the rigging that had been set up almost _entirely_ for you to practice your acrobatics. On this day, you’d hooked up one of the silk hammocks and settled on some aerial yoga, with your Bluetooth earbuds firmly in place as your phone sat with your jacket and shoes playing a _lengthy_ playlist.

You’d first started taking acrobatics lessons when you were still in _elementary_ school, loving your dance lessons but not quite as much as you’d loved acrobatics, and on days like this it was easy for you to just slide your gray eyes shut and feel your way around the hammock, even when you released your grip and let yourself _drop_ in the knowledge your ankle would catch the cloth before you hit the ground. You were comfortably lost to the world, your feet nowhere near the ground, until your earbuds interrupted Daya’s _Sit Still, Look Pretty_ with your text notification.

 _You_ knew it was from _Kim Possible_ , but since you kept your cell on _vibration only_ most of the time that was _your_ little secret.

The moment you opened your eyes, hanging upside-down by your knees with your arms by your head, you saw Sharon with her phone in her hand and an amused smile. She waited patiently as you crunched upwards with practiced ease to grab the sturdy cloth and held yourself up as you slipped your legs free before carefully lowering yourself to the floor a few _feet_ below you. You’d get the cloth later, you figured as you pulled your Stark Tech earbuds from your ears and grabbed your phone to pause your music. It’s not like anyone else knew how to use it – Clint admitted he’d only learned the bare minimum during his circus days and Natasha had snorted out a teasing _‘I’m not going near that Cirque de Sole shit’_ before the two of you started a very ballet-based workout for the day.

“What’s up Share?” you greeted simply as you draped your small blue towel over your shoulders before slipping on the black ballet flats you’d worn from your apartment a few floors above to the large gym. Your question had taken Sharon by surprise, however, as the thing she needed to talk to you about was a long-standing tradition that had been your idea in the first place. An idea you’d had when you were trying to cobble together an identity beyond _Blackbird._

“Girls night. We’re all in the same place at the same time, for once, so we were thinking-“

“Can’t, I have other plans, time sensitive.” You kept things short as you picked up the rest of your things to go back to your room and shower, instead of using the gym showers.

“Wha- with _who?”_ Sharon didn’t mean to sound rude, but she was…shocked, honestly. Anyone you spent _any_ free time with was _in the tower_ and _knew_ about the monthly girls night. The people you spent the _most_ time with were – surprise, surprise – _the girls._ You couldn’t possibly have a mission, the team was on reserve for another _two weeks_ and, as a result of your service to S.H.I.E.L.D and your quick thinking which quickly resolved that incident in Europe before things got worse, the UN had _specifically_ requested you remain on-call. They hadn’t called in the last two years, but they still went through the same motions every year.

“So not your business,” you retorted as you continued down the walkways of the open-air communal area.

“It’s a _guy-“_

“It’s a no strings attached _booty call.”_ If you’d known Stark and Rhodey had gotten back, you would have held back on that _specific_ verbiage until _after_ you passed the lab. Instead, the genius billionaire kicked his wheely-chair into a roll across the tiled lab floor and out the open window calling _‘I want in, I want in’_ until his rolling chair stopped when you lifted your foot to meet the edge of his spinning seat. Even though he was in _prime_ position for you to kick him right back into his lab, he still looked up at you and your older sister in _wild_ amusement.

“My money’s on Romanoff,” Tony laid down the bet, “[Y/N] helped convince S.H.I.E.L.D to give the Black Widow a second chance, and since Barton is matrimonially obliged to say no, she’s expressing her thanks to Blackbird.”

“You’re just daydreaming because Nat and I had to kiss to keep our cover from being blown two months ago,” you quickly, and accurately, accused. While it wasn’t unusual for you and Nat to flirt with each other, it was a bit of a game for the two of you, one to keep your espionage and seduction skills sharp. Though, during combat the game generally turned to really _cheesy_ one-liners, or when one of you was just having a rough day.

“Besides, Nat’s not skipping girls night tonight,” Sharon added some actual _credence_ to your argument, real proof that Tony was wrong, which sent the genius thinking out loud.

“Well, I’m spoken for so it’s obviously not me, and Thor isn’t anywhere near Earth, Banner is off the grid, and even if the _star spangled man with the worst plans_ wasn’t dating our dear Agent 13 he’s a bit… _Boy Scout_ for our dear bird.”

“Steve isn’t nearly as innocent as you keep _insisting_ , Stark,” Sharon jumped to the defense of her boyfriend, briefly skipping over the point that compared to _you_ and _your_ tastes…

“Of all the _world’s most dangerous assassins_ in this tower, I’m the only one that _chose_ to get that title.”

“ _Touché.”_

“And you’re completely discounting the _army_ of spies and agents that work for us, many of which I met when S.H.I.E.L.D was still around,” you continued, knowing you couldn’t discourage either of them from the search and instead choosing to widen the net before you launched Tony back into the lab with a kick and a, “Get back to work, Tony.”

“I will figure this out!” Tony called only a moment before he crashed into a lab table and let out a string of curses while Rhodey laughed. Sharon kept following you as you made your way down the walkway and to the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator that was _constantly_ busy as the Avengers’ agents kept running back and forth with more and more intel gathered during the annual UN gathering.

“So, you _planned_ a booty call? Aren’t they supposed to be a _spur of the moment_ kind of thing?” Sharon brought up as the two of you climbed the stairs without losing breath, an effect of a _lifetime_ spent surrounded by various types of physical activity. “ _Hey girl, you up?”_

“We’re busy people, only slightly more stressed than we are busy.” You quickly reached the door to your private living quarters in the tower, an unspoken perk of long legs. “Have fun on girls’ night.”

“Fine, but if you skip seeing mom and dad when they’re in town, I’m telling them why.”

********

As much as Steve Rogers tried to take things in stride, there were times when he couldn’t help but wonder _why_ things always had to happen to _him._ Even before the serum, luck had never been on his side. This particular twist of fate was no different. He’d been keeping the secret for _four months_ , and that was hard enough. Then _this_ happened.

Sharon knew that you had a… _side piece_ , and as your older sister she wanted to know _who._ She worried about you. The book _Little Women_ had been a big thing during your shared childhood, apparently, and while you disagreed with Jo’s decision – stating that it was based more in _cowardice_ than a desire for adventure as she ended up marrying the _most boring human being on the face of the planet_ – Sharon had a feeling you were going to subconsciously make that very same decision. The older blonde haired woman’s desire to know _who_ your _booty call_ was with was based in the concern that it could actually lead to a _relationship_ , but you were subconsciously making sure that it _couldn’t_ by _keeping things casual._

Steve _wanted_ to offer support as Sharon paced at the end of the bed at the end of the night, tipsy from the girls night and waking up her light-sleeper of a boyfriend. Thing was, any comfort he could offer was based _entirely_ in his knowledge of who the _guy_ was. It’s not like Steve _tried_ to find out, and if he could forget he _would._ Even before the war, _casual_ was about as close to a relationship as Bucky got, and the fact it had lasted more than a month – let alone _four –_ was a _huge_ step. Hell, all things considered, the fact Bucky had even entered into this kind of arrangement was a huge step.

Steve couldn’t _say_ anything, however, because he’d sworn himself to secrecy and didn’t want to betray his best friend like that.

He was also a bit scared…

 _To be fair_ , you intimidated _Thor._

So, while Bucky was getting the _best sex of his life_ with someone he _clearly_ had chemistry with, Steve was stuck lying to his girlfriend who might just shoot him when she _inevitably_ found out he _lied._

_Swell…_

********

“Oh _yes_ ,” you cheered when you stepped out of the hotel room bathroom, with F.R.I.D.A.Y keeping an eye on everything in the tower it was safer to meet up at a hotel and spend the night than risk the AI ratting the two of you out. You jumped a bit to perch on the edge of the bed, unreasonably high just like every half-decent hotel, and brushed your pale and still damp locks back. “ _Pizza and beer,_ my favorite. _”_

After _literal_ hours of lengthy and _intense_ sex, Bucky was always the first to recover, and let you continue to nap when he got up to shower. He’d woken you up when he got out, like always, so you could hop in the shower while he got food for the two of you. His showers had gotten shorter, less time messing with his hair after he’d cut it. You’d said something about his jawline and cheekbones, the basic gist was you thought he’d look good with his hair short and next thing the 100-year-old man knew he’d gotten a haircut.

It was the same pattern every time, down to him kicking off his boots and yanking off his shirt after he flipped every lock and placed a chair under the doorknob to _be sure._ It was _paranoia_ to some, _common sense_ to you, which was exactly why things were so… _easy._ You hadn’t bothered to put anything over the matching gray-violet silken bra and panty set, sort of a _moot point_ when you’re alone with someone that’s already seen you naked _repeatedly._

“Haven’t seen that set before,” Bucky commented after taking a moment to recall if he’d seen the matching set you were wearing. The fact that it was a _matched set_ sort of tipped him off. Sure, you had multiple matching sets, but you rarely bothered to actually _match_ them in the morning, instead grabbing the first pair of underwear and whatever bra seemed appropriate for the day.

“I went shopping after the _Heatwave Fiasco_ ,” you clarified, using the name you’d assigned to the two weeks you and Bucky had been stuck in southern Mexico during a heatwave. The politicians you were protecting from the local Cartel were safe, but as the rest of the team was stuck in multiple places all over the globe and having a Quinjet in the vicinity would have only given the two of you away, you were stuck for an extra week until you could get picked up. A good thing, too, as local cops had actively hidden evidence from the two of you, and it nearly killed the woman you were charged to protect. The two of you, however, had to find ways to deal with the intense heat and shitty air conditioning in the hideout, and nearly constant sex seemed to be the answer, but you were left with two pairs of panties and one bra that hadn’t been _literally_ ripped from your body. Sure, you had more back home, but that was still a noticeable depletion of your collection.

So, shopping trip.

As he took a swig from his bottle of beer, not like it could get him even the slightest bit drunk but you hadn’t been kidding when you said it was good, he watched as you picked the toppings off your pizza and ate them one by one. It was an odd little quirk, but it was cute. One of those little things you did when your walls fell and you weren’t being _Agent [Y/N] Carter_ or _Blackbird_ , but just _[Y/N]._ Like when _Don’t Stop Believing_ or some other classic 80’s song was playing, and you couldn’t help but animatedly dance and sing along.

He turned his attention away before he started _staring_ , that was a _boyfriend_ thing and he was decidedly _not_ that, and grabbed the remote to flip through channels on the TV before settling on a string of _The Simpsons_ reruns.

“Awe yeah, Sideshow Bob is in this one,” you excitedly resituated, sitting back against the pillows with your knees bent and paper plate of pizza carefully balanced on one hand between your long legs and your chest as you picked off and ate the last of the toppings before starting on the slice itself. “His brother Cecil is in it too, the whole thing is a giant _Frasier_ joke.”

“ _Fraiser_ …that’s the _Cheers_ spin-off, right?” Christ, you were like a pop-culture dictionary, so adorably entertained by simple things even with how bright and clever you’d always been. Then, after burying yourself in pop culture, you’d turn around and enter a _lengthy_ and _in-depth_ debate about the symbolism in _Jane Eyre_ or why the _To Kill A Mockingbird_ sequel is – despite being a disappointment – symbolic of modern day society – specifically with Atticus Finch’s quick turn to racism causing Scout, who was symbolic of younger and more modern generations, trying to balance her love for her father with her own values and beliefs she learned through his actions in the first book.

“Mhmm,” you nodded mid-bite, carefully leaning over to grab one of the beers you’d ignored in you search for food, having just swallowed when you exclaimed, “What the – how did I not notice the breadsticks?”

Bucky couldn’t help but laugh, one of the world’s deadliest assassins – and the one that _chose_ to seek out that job – could be so… _whimsical_ when you let your walls down. It was contagious. He found himself lazily draping his flesh arm across your shoulders when you leaned back against the pillows and into his side with a brilliant smile on those full, thick lips of yours. The whole thing feeling very… _domestic_.

A shame the _both_ of you had a bone-chilling, blood freezing, nightmarish _fear_ of commitment.


End file.
